DATE=6/30/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SRI LANKA CENSORSHIP (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-263923
BYLINE=STEVEN BARTHOLOMEUSZ
DATELINE=COLOMBO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Sri Lanka's Supreme Court ruled Friday the
government's censorship of news illegal, and ordered
the reopening of a newspaper shut down under emergency
regulations. Steven Bartholomeusz reports from Colombo
on this landmark decision.
TEXT: The Sri Lankan Supreme Court, delivering its
judgment, said the government censorship, imposed in
May, is illegal. It also said the appointment of a
Chief Censor, to review all news reports, had not been
approved in Parliament within seven days.
The three-judge bench said the Chief Censor, Ariya
Rubasinghe, did not have the authority to censor news
reports or close down the English language "Sunday
Leader" newspaper in May. The Supreme court ordered
the reopening of the Sunday Leader and its Sinhalese
language sister paper, shut down under the emergency
regulations, and ordered the state to pay 100-thousand
rupees in compensation to the newspaper group.
The Editor of the Sunday Leader, Lasantha
Wickrametunge, hailed the Supreme Court decision
saying it was a victory for the freedom of the press,
and said the paper planned to begin publishing on
Sunday. The newspaper was banned for six months after
it ran a front-page report on the war that used the
word "not" in every sentence to avoid the censor.
In May, the government put the country on a war
footing and imposed strict censorship on news reports
of the war and other government related matters, after
a string of setbacks in its battles against Tamil
rebels in the North of the island nation.
The strict regulations allowed the government to seize
property, close down printing presses and ban the
publication of newspapers. Under the censorship, all
Sri Lankan news media and until early June, the
foreign media, had to submit reports connected to the
war to the government censor, who would delete
information that was thought to jeopardize the
fighting or create public distress.
The decision to impose censorship drew criticism from
both local and international news organizations and
media watchdogs. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/PLM
TEXT:
NEB/WTW/
30-Jun-2000 08:21 AM EDT (30-Jun-2000 1221 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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